Originally Posted by
English
I do not see how my argument has faulted at all. I'm not talking about the "Forum". I'm talking about the big wide world of e bay and flee markets and antique stores etc.
I also have not said that the guys who refurbish or hone razors in a professional capacity don't know what they are doing or that they would falsify or deliberately defraud or be dishonest. I have neither written, said, implied. or believe that. Incidentally, I'm not a nutter, ridiculous or whacky and I'm not trying to preach.
When I purchase a razor, I look at the spine and the width of the honing bevel on the spine to determine how often and how well the razor has been honed in the past. An uneven or irregular width tells me there may be problems and to be cautious and the width of the bevel tells me how well used the razor is. That's what people who know a little about second hand razors do.
If a razor has been taped throughout it's life, this will not help , because the spine honing bevel has been protected and has no story to tell. I can not tell how much metal has been removed from the edge. I also can not easily tell what the original size of the blade might have been.
For the sake of argument, lets say I like the feel of a 5/8" full hollow ground razor.
If I see a razor for sale that is described as 5/8" that has a spine honing bevel of more than 2mm, I know that that blade started its life as probably a 6/8" razor. I don't want a honed down 6/8" razor so I won't buy it.
If that razor's spine had been taped, the spine bevel would be less than 1mm and you could easily think that the razor was a little used 5/8"razor.
When you shave with it however, it will feel stiffer than a normal 5/8" razor because 1/8" of the very flexible part of the blade has been honed away.
That's the only point I am making.